


Who You Gonna Call?

by saramcm



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghost Hunters, M/M, Writer had no idea what she was doing T B H, but had too much fun with this, paranormal stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 14:23:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11106393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saramcm/pseuds/saramcm
Summary: ... Not Ethan, probably.“I promise it’s not that scary in there,” Mark said quietly to him as they walked behind the rest of the crew, his voice low as if he was telling a secret.“I’m not scared,” Ethan argued for what felt like the millionth time. “This is just not what I signed up for.”Prompt: Ghost hunters AU.





	Who You Gonna Call?

“Are we ready?” Amy looked around to see everyone nodding and throwing their thumbs up. Everyone but Ethan. “Where’s—“

“Here! I’m ready, let’s go.” The younger of the crew came running in. While Ethan was usually on the sidelines of their adventures, deciphering the readings they got in EVPs and going over the footage they got on camera, he had to fill in for Tyler today. The other had gotten sick, and even though Ethan had suggested over and over again that they come in here another day, the rest of the guys reminded him they had plane tickets back to LA the following night. They couldn’t postpone this investigation, not even if Ethan kept insisting Tyler’s gear was built for someone thrice Ethan’s size and there was no way this could go well (“That’s a bullshit excuse, Ethan,” they told him each time).

The sooner they went in, the sooner they would be out, he supposed.

“I promise it’s not that scary in there,” Mark said quietly to him as they walked behind the rest of the crew, his voice low as if he was telling a secret.

“I’m _not_ scared,” Ethan argued for what felt like the millionth time. “This is just not what I signed up for.”

“Uh huh, sure.” Mark placed a comforting hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll be close by. Y’know, to help you with your gear. Not because you’re scared.”

Ethan let out a heavy, dramatic, annoyed sigh. Mark could be infuriating, but… He supposed he didn’t mind having some help. With the gear. Ethan wasn’t scared. Besides, Mark was the tech guy, the one who tinkered with all the devices and got the best in the market (considering their budget), so Ethan definitely trusted him. With the gear.

“Let’s go to the basement,” Kathryn suggested. Nothing much happened upstairs, no abnormal readings, nothing out of the ordinary. Ethan was convinced there was nothing to fear in this place, after all. “I’m getting a reading by the stairs. Maybe there’s something down there.” Of course, Kathryn had to go and ruin it.

“You doing okay there?”

“Fine, Mark.”

“You sure?”

Ethan sighed again and paused the camera. “You know what would be awful? Was if half the footage in here was you talking instead of actual useful things.”

“Someone’s grumpy,” Mark teased with a smirk. “I’m just making sure you’re alright going down there.”

“I’m _fine_ ,” Ethan repeated. “Besides, it’s what I gotta do, right? Tyler’s usually with the camera, so I gotta take the camera.”

“Ethan.” Mark placed both hands on Ethan’s shoulders and forced him to face him. Oh no, he looked serious. “We’ll find a way if you don’t want to go downstairs. I’m not asking all these questions just to annoy you – well, it’s a little bit to annoy you, honestly. But I’m worried about you, too. It’s just you and I now, if you’re scared you can just tell me.”

Ethan swallowed dryly. He could barely see Mark in the darkness, the only real sources of light being the flashlights they had brought in. The others were already halfway down the staircase, out of earshot considering Mark’s low voice.

“I can do it. I’m part of the team, I can do it.”

“Your usual job doesn’t make you any less part of the team.”

“I know. But Tyler’s dying back at the hotel and you need someone to carry the camera.” Ethan adjusted the straps of his backpack and pointed at the staircase. “I promise I’ll try my best not to shit my pants.”

Mark grinned and moved his hand from Ethan’s shoulder to his hair, ruffling it to annoy the younger. As Ethan tried to push him away, Mark leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Ethan’s forehead. Amy called out for them and Mark made up an excuse about checking on the camera, for which Ethan was thankful.

Nothing that eventful happened while they toured the basement. There definitely was something down there, but it didn’t manifest itself aside from the meters being all over the place. Kathryn took pictures of the spots where the readings were higher and Ethan did his best to get footage of every square inch of the place. Finally, he was starting to let go of his fear, if only a little, getting more and more excited to get back to the hotel and review everything. It was the first promising place they’d visited in a while, after all.

“Should we go back?” Mark asked and everyone gave affirmative answers. Ethan let them head back to the stairs ahead of him while he got the last few shots of the empty basement. Then he jogged to catch up with them, and after climbing up the first couple of stairs he froze.

“Ethan?” It was only after Mark called his name that Ethan realized he had reached out and grabbed at his backpack. “Something wrong?”

Finally, Ethan reacted. He twisted his torso to look behind his shoulder, still filming. His heart was beating a mile a minute. He saw nothing in the view finder other than the green tint of night vision and empty stairs behind him. “Something grabbed me.”

“What?” Mark turned around. Ethan’s hand seemed to refuse to let go of his backpack so Mark grabbed it with his own instead. Ethan gripped his fingers tightly, shakily.

“Something grabbed my leg.”

Mark opened his mouth to ask if Ethan was sure – power of suggestion and all that – but the tremble in the boy’s voice stopped him from doing so. Ethan was genuinely terrified, wasn’t he? Besides, all evidence pointed to _something_ being in that basement, so Mark wouldn’t put it past that _something_ to finally make its presence known. Mark had to keep the tremble off his own voice when he spoke up. “Hey. Let’s go, we got a lot of footage to review. Urgently.”

Ethan nodded. He reminded himself of the job he had to do and nodded once more, this time more resolutely. He turned once again and made his way up the narrow stairs behind Mark, not even realizing he was holding his breath until he got to the top and allowed himself to breathe again. Ethan turned off the camera and looked at Mark when he felt the other’s gaze on him, giving Ethan a questioning look. Ethan put on a smile and nodded.

The way back to the hotel was relatively silent, at least on Ethan’s part. The others talked about the house or about things that didn’t even relate to their investigation, but Ethan was quiet. He finally spoke when they got to the hotel and announced that he had a lot to do. “If you need me, knock on the door.”

A knock came about an hour later, admittedly scaring Ethan a little. He cleared his throat and told whoever was on the other side that they could come in, and was relieved to see Mark at the door. At least to him Ethan wouldn’t have to explain why he had gotten about 0% work done so far, too distracted to focus.

“How are you doing?”

Ethan shrugged. “Okay, I guess.”

“Are you hurt? Did it hurt when it grabbed you?”

“No… It just felt like a cold hand or something. Nothing _sharp_ or aggressive.”

“Good.” Mark let out a relieved sigh and walked closer, then sat down on the mattress beside Ethan. “I think whatever it was just liked you and wanted to keep you.”

“That does not make me feel any better.”

“No, look. Remember when we looked up the history of the house? And we learned about the family with three kids? I think one of them thought your hair was cool and just wanted someone to play with. Something like that. They didn’t mean to scare you.”

Ethan let out a shaky breath. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—“

“You don’t need to apologize. Something grabbed you, of course you got scared. Tyler would be scared, too.” Mark shrugged. “I was scared.”

Ethan scoffed. “Right. _You_ were scared. C’mon, half the time you walk into these places _taunting_ ghosts. Last time you literally said ‘suck my dick, ectoplasm scum’.”

“That was when we were leaving the place and had already determined there was no ectoplasm scum in the vicinities,” Mark defended, laughing at his own past antics. At least Ethan was smiling, too. “Today was different, though. You were there.”

Ethan paused. He’d been pale as paper ever since the incident at the house, and for the first time he felt like the blood was circulating through him again, providing him with a soft blush at the implications behind Mark’s words. He almost wished he’d remained livid instead. “Am I that much of a liability?” Ethan arched an eyebrow, attempting to look offended.

“You know that’s not what I meant, don’t ruin it.”

Ethan laughed and leaned over to kiss Mark’s cheek. “I’m sorry I was a scaredy cat and worried you.”

“I’m sorry we had to force you to go in there with us.”

Ethan shook his head. This time around his lips found Mark’s, the kiss so light and brief one could wonder if they’d dreamt it. “Keep me safe tonight?”

Mark smiled. “Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> Leaving kudos and comments will ward off ghosts ♥


End file.
